THOROUGHBRED RACING : Drawing Auxiliary Gate Leaves Horses With Only Outside Shot

The hopes of many Kentucky Derby horses fade when they reach the top of the stretch at Churchill Downs, having already run a tough mile with a straightaway of 1,234 1/2 feet still ahead. This isn’t the longest stretch in American racing, but because of the nature of the Derby, it’s the most demanding.

In recent years, the hopes of many Derby horses have been dashed long before they reached the quarter pole. These horses are virtually eliminated more than 48 hours before the race is run--at the post-position draw on the Thursday of Derby week. These are the horses that draw stalls in Churchill Downs’ dreaded auxiliary gate, which is used when the Derby field exceeds 14 starters.

At this year’s Derby, with 19 horses entered, the luck of the draw--bad luck of the draw, that is--landed some prominent contenders in the auxiliary gate. On the outside looking in were Corby, winner of the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita; Diazo, beaten by less than two lengths in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park; Dixieland Heat, winner of the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds and third in the Blue Grass at Keeneland; Wallenda, second in the Blue Grass and third in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park; and El Bakan, undefeated in Panama and second in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

Based on patterns at the Kentucky Derby over the last 20 years, their victory chances were nil, and Diazo’s fifth-place run was the best finish of any of the horses in the group.

Position in a large field is important in any race, and it’s particularly critical in the Derby, where the horse getting the best trip is frequently the winner. Getting a good trip from the auxiliary gate is wishful thinking, because it’s difficult for jockeys to save ground in the long run to the first turn without placing their horses far back, behind packs of opponents.

The Derby horses with post positions outside No. 14 are actually farther outside than their stalls would indicate.

Pat Valenzuela, who has ridden in the Derby six times, winning with Sunday Silence in 1989, estimates that there’s 10 feet--the equivalent of more than two stalls--of space between the main gate and the auxiliary gate. So El Bakan, who broke from the far outside, No. 19, in this year’s Derby, was in effect starting from approximately No. 21 in terms of space between the first box and his stall.

This year’s poor finishes by the outside horses were not an aberration. Since 1974, 56 horses have started from the extra gate, and only two--Gato Del Sol in 1982 and Swale in 1984--have won the race. Only six others have finished second or third.

Some of the best horses to run in the Derby have been victimized by the draw. In 1974, the centennial Derby, trainer Woody Stephens went to Louisville oozing confidence over Judger, who had prepped sensationally by winning the Florida Derby and the Blue Grass. But Judger drew post 22 in the record 23-horse field and ran eighth, never threatening. Stephens won the race, anyway, with Cannonade, who was considered the lesser half of his favored entry.

Another overflow field, 21 horses, showed up in 1981, and Tap Shoes and Cure the Blues, two of the promising contenders, were badly beaten after being relegated to the auxiliary gate.

Three years later, Pine Circle, who merited respect because of a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby, drew No. 18 in a 20-horse field and made a futile late run to be sixth.

In 1988, favored Private Terms, undefeated in seven starts, might just as well as stayed in Maryland after drawing No. 16. He finished ninth.

There might have been more reasons than just the untoward post for Arazi, the ballyhooed 9-10 shot, to finish eighth in 1992, but the unseasoned French colt had at least two strikes on him when the draw brought No. 17.

Of the two horses that have overcome the auxiliary-gate curse in the last two decades, Gato Del Sol will be remembered as an anomaly, that rare plodder who wins the Derby. He looped the field on the far turn to win from the No. 19 hole, beating horses that have been stigmatized as members of one of the weakest Derby collections ever.

Three years after Gato Del Sol won, Swale, who broke from No. 15, was simply good enough to do anything. Before he collapsed and died about six weeks later, only days after winning the Belmont Stakes, he was a colt with unlimited prospects.

Allen Paulson is the owner who’s suffered the most by the fickle Kentucky Derby draw in the last two years. Paulson raced Arazi in a partnership, and he also owns Corby and Diazo.

“If I had come to you willing to bet that both Corby and Diazo would wind up in the outside gate, wouldn’t you have bet me everything you had against it?” Paulson said the other day. “The odds on that happening had to be astronomical.”

Paulson’s immediate reaction is that the Derby, which now has a 20-horse limit, ought to be restricted to 14, which is the maximum for the Breeders’ Cup races. Derby officials have heard this suggestion before and never bent an ear. That auxiliary gate at Churchill Downs isn’t going to a scrap heap anytime soon.

Horse Racing Notes

After fretting for several days over Best Pal being the high weight for Monday’s $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap, owners John and Betty Mabee and trainer Gary Jones have decided to run. Other probables are Val Des Bois, Bien Bien, Beyton, Lomitas, Leger Cat, Jahafil, Corrupt, Rainbow Corner and Misty Valley. . . . Soviet Problem, undefeated in five starts, faces seven other 3-year-old fillies Saturday in the $100,000 Railbird at Hollywood Park. Others running in the seven-furlong stake are Fit To Lead, Zoonaqua, Swazi’s Moment, Afto, Nijivision, Tapstress and Tour. Soviet Problem will be ridden by Gary Stevens, who rode the California-bred to victory at Santa Anita in March. Soviet Problem’s other four wins have come at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields.

Hollywood will take betting Saturday on the telecast of the $100,000 Sea O’Erin Handicap at Arlington International. High weight in the field, at 115 pounds, is Journalism, who won the Shoemaker Handicap at Hollywood last month. . . . The Belmont Stakes, to be run a week from Saturday, probably lost a starer when Bull inthe Heather, closer to the pace than he usually is, faded to fourth Thursday in an allowance grass race at Belmont. Bull inthe Heather, 11th as the second choice in the Kentucky Derby, had never run on turf before. . . . Between 10 and 12 horses are expected for the Belmont, including Prairie Bayou, Cherokee Run and El Bakan, the 1-2-3 finishers in the Preakness, and Derby winner Sea Hero. . . . Bertrando, idle since his ninth-place finish in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, is scheduled to run in the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont on Monday. . . . Dogwood Stable is offering a $5,000 award to a “behind-the-scenes, working-type individual whose efforts have gone beyond the call of duty” in racing. Nominations for the Dogwood Dominion Award can be mailed to P.O. Box 1549, Aiken, S.C. 29801.